You are on page 1of 23

Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. 44, No.

3, Fall 2005 ( 2005)


DOI: 10.1007/s10943-005-5464-z

The Impact of Personality


and Religion on Attitudes
toward Alcohol among
1618 year olds in Northern
Ireland
LESLIE J. FRANCIS, MICHAEL FEARN,
and CHRISTOPHER ALAN LEWIS
ABSTRACT: Background: Previous research demonstrates a negative relationship between
attitude toward alcohol and religiosity. However, what is less apparent is if this relationship may,
at least in part, be a function of individual differences in personality, as previous research has
demonstrated a relationship between certain measures of personality and both attitude toward
alcohol and attitude toward religiosity. The aim of the present study was to explore the impact of
personality and the relative efficacy of different markers of religiosity in predicting attitude toward alcohol among a sample of 1618 year olds in Northern Ireland. Method: The Francis Scale of
Attitude toward Alcohol (Francis, 1992c. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 31, 4550) was administered alongside the Abbreviated Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Francis, Brown, &
Philipchalk, 1992. Personality and Individual Differences, 13(4), 443449), the Francis Scale of
Attitude toward Christianity (Francis & Stubbs, 1987. Personality and Individual Differences, 8,
741743) and measures of frequency of personal prayer and church attendance among a sample of
243 16- to 18-year-old sixth-form students in Northern Ireland. Results and conclusion: The data
demonstrate that a more prohibitive attitude toward alcohol was correlated with lower psychoticism scores (tendermindedness) and a more positive attitude toward Christianity. Multipleregression analyses confirm the importance of attitude toward religion in predicting individual
differences in attitude toward alcohol.
KEY WORDS: adolescence; alcohol; Northern Ireland; personality; religion.

The Reverend Professor Leslie J. Francis, Ph.D. (l.j.francis@bangor.ac.uk) is at the Welsh National Centre for Religious Education, University of Wales, Bangor, Normal Site, Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales, UK, LL57 2PZ, UK.
Dr. Michael Fearn, Ph.D., is at the Welsh National Centre for Religious Education, University of
Wales, Bangor, Normal Site, Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales, UK, LL57 2PZ, UK.
Dr. Christopher Alan Lewis, D.Phil., is at the School of Psychology, University of Ulster at
Magee College, Londonderry, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland, UK, BT48 7JL.
267

2005 Blanton-Peale Institute

268

Journal of Religion and Health

Introduction
Research in the United States of America has demonstrated that alcohol use
among underage youth is a serious public health problem. A national survey
found that a majority of twelfth-grade students reported using alcohol in the
last month, and 30% exhibited binge-drinking behaviours (Johnston, OMally,
& Bachman, 1992). However, it is well recognised that some young people are
more vulnerable to becoming involved with the use and abuse of alcohol than
others. Because of the high levels of use and abuse of alcohol by young people
and the consequences that result, researchers have sought to identify factors
that might impact on alcohol-related attitudes and behaviours.
The close relationship between positive attitude toward alcohol and actual
alcohol drinking behaviour is well documented (Barber & Grichting, 1987;
Champion & Bell, 1980; Martino & Truss, 1973), suggesting that a better
understanding of the underlying attitude toward alcohol may help to predict
variations in overt behaviour (Ajzen, 1988; Eiser & van der Pligt, 1988).
Consequently the psychological correlates of attitude toward alcohol are of
theoretical interest to researchers.
Two well established schools of research have charted the impact of
religiosity on alcohol related attitudes and practices and the impact of personality on both drinking practices and attitude toward alcohol. Hitherto
these two schools have not been fully integrated. Moreover, the integration of
these two schools is made more complex by the third school of research which
links personality with individual differences in religiosity. The aim of the
present paper is to review these three schools of research and then to explore
empirically the relative predictive power of religiosity and personality to account for differences in attitude toward alcohol among a sample of 1618 year
olds in Northern Ireland.
Religiosity and alcohol
There is a particularly well established school of research concerned with the
relationship between religiosity and both drinking practices and attitude toward alcohol among adults. Three main strands run through existing research
in this school conducted within the Christian tradition, discussing religiosity
in terms of denominational identity, frequency of church attendance, and the
measurement of some aspects of belief, commitment or experience. No
unambiguous consensus, however, emerges from these studies.
According to the first strand, a number of studies found significant differences between Protestants and Catholics, or between adherents to different
Protestant churches. For example, a national study of drinking, conducted in
the United States of America by Cahalan, Cisin, and Crossley (1969) reported
that 7% of those belonging to conservative Protestant churches were heavy
users of alcohol, compared with 13% of those belonging to liberal Protestant
churches and 19% of Catholics. Bock, Cochran, and Beeghleys (1987) analysis

Leslie J. Francis, Michael Fearn, and Christopher Alan Lewis

269

of data from the annual General Social Surveys 19721980, found the following trend in reported alcohol use: unaffiliated (90%), Episcopalians (87%),
Catholics (86%), Lutherans (85%), Presbyterians (78%), Methodists (68%)
and Baptists and other Protestants (56%). Using an extended database from
the annual General Social Surveys 19721984, Cochran, Beeghley, and Bock
(1988) found the following trend on reported alcohol use: no affiliation (88%),
Catholic (86%), Episcopalian (86%), Lutheran (85%), Presbyterian (82%),
Methodist (71%), Baptist (56%) and Protestant sects (55%). Similarly, in a
survey of alcohol use conducted in the Western Isles of Scotland, Mullen,
Blaxter, and Dyer (1986) reported that 43% of those belonging to the conservative Free Church of Scotland never drink alcohol, compared with 30% of
those belonging to the Church of Scotland and 16% of Catholics. In a survey
including an examination of the relationship between religion and alcohol
consumption in Australia, Bouma, and Dixon (1987) reported that 37% of
those belonging to theologically right-wing Protestant groups were total
abstainers, compared with 20% of those belonging to the Presbyterian,
Methodist and Uniting churches, 17% of Catholics and 14% of Anglicans.
Hansons (1974), Zucker and Harfords (1983) and Hanson and Engs (1987)
studies of college students and Schlegel and Sanborns (1979), Jensen and
Ericksons (1979), Burketts (1980) and Hadaway, Elifson, and Petersens
(1984) studies of high school students found that Protestant adolescents were
more likely to abstain from drinking than Catholic adolescents. Hawks and
Bahr (1992) found significantly lower use of alcohol among Mormon adolescents than among those belonging to other religious groups. Cosper, Okraku,
and Neumann (1987) reported that, in Canada, Protestants were less likely to
frequent taverns than members of other religious groups. Beeghley, Bock, and
Cochran (1990) found that individuals who switch their denominational allegiance from a proscriptive to a non-proscriptive group also increase their use
of alcohol. Research contrasting religious groups from within and without the
Christian tradition carried out by Loewenthal, MacLeod, Cook, Lee, and
Goldblatt (2003) has shown that Protestants displayed more accepting attitudes to alcohol than Jews.
Other studies, however, question this tidy pattern. Closer scrutiny of the
Catholic community reveals crucial cultural differences, with Irish Catholics
displaying high rates of alcoholism and Italian Catholics displaying low rates
(Wechsler, Demone, Thum, & Kasey, 1970). Closer scrutiny of some Protestant
groups reveals other deviations from the expected pattern. Chafetz and Demone
(1962), for example, reported that more Methodist students drink to get intoxicated than any other group. Skolnick (1958) also found high rates of intoxication
and social complications reported by Methodist students from an abstinence
background. Burkett and White (1974) found no relationship between denominational preference and adolescent drinking. Jessor and Jessor (1977) reported
that the degree of fundamentalism in the parents religious group was not significantly related to their childrens drinking. Shore, Rivers, and Berman (1983)

270

Journal of Religion and Health

found no relationship between students denominational background and desire


to refrain from drinking. Wechsler and McFadden (1979) found no significant
differences in the proportions of abstainers among Protestant and Catholic
students. While Engs, Hanson, Gliksman, and Smythe (1990) found significant
differences between the drinking practices of Catholic and mainstream Protestant students in the United States of America, among Canadian students
fewer differences were found between the two groups. While Mullen, Williams
and Hunt (1996) found no differences between born Catholics and the rest of the
population in terms of alcohol use, current Protestants were significantly less
likely than either Catholics or those of no religious affiliation to be either moderate or heavy drinkers. Patock-Peckham, Hutchinson, Cheong, and Nagoshi
(1998) found that while no significant differences emerged across religious
groups in terms of problems associated with alcohol use, Protestants reported
significantly higher levels of perceived drinking control than Catholics. Intrinsic
religiosity played a more important role in shaping drinking behaviour among
Protestants than among Catholics. Moreover, some studies suggest that the
significance of denominational identity may be growing weaker over time. For
example, Nusbaumer (1981) reported that the impact of religious affiliation on
the practice of abstinence was weaker in 1978 than in 1963. Similarly, Hilton
and Clark (1987) found that denominational differences in reporting dependence problems were less significant in 1984 than in 1967.
According to the second strand, a number of studies found a significant
negative relationship between the frequency of church attendance and the
level of alcohol consumption, drunkenness and related alcohol problems. For
example, Cahalan, Cisin, and Crossleys (1969) study of drinking patterns in
the United States of America found that among frequent churchgoers only one
in ten was a heavy drinker, compared with more than one in five among those
who never went to church. A similar relationship between church attendance
and drinking patterns was reported among adult samples by Cahalan and
Room (1972), Borgatta, Montgomery, and Borgatta (1982), Gottlieb and Green
(1984), Cosper, Okraku, and Neumann (1987), Lubben, Chi, and Kitano
(1988), Clarke, Beeghley, and Cochran (1990) and Cochran, Beeghley, and
Bock (1992), among undergraduates and college students by Straus and Bacon
(1953), Middleton and Putney (1962), Biggs, Orcutt, and Bakkenist (1974),
Hanson (1974) and Parfrey (1976) and among high school students by Globetti
(1969), Burkett and White (1974), Jessor and Jessor (1975), Higgins and
Albrecht (1977), Schlegel and Sanborn (1979), Jensen and Erickson (1979),
Burkett (1977, 1980), Elifson, Petersen, and Hadaway (1983), Hadaway,
Elifson, and Petersen (1984), Lorch and Hughes (1985), Adlaf and Smart
(1985), Amoateng and Bahr (1986), Faulkner, Alcorn and Garvin (1989) Long
and Boik (1993), Brown, Parks, Zimmerman, and Phillips (2001), Sutherland
and Shepherd (2001), and Mason and Windle (2002). Donovan, Jessor and
Jessor (1983) demonstrated in a longitudinal study that frequency of church
attendance during high school or college could predict problem drinking

Leslie J. Francis, Michael Fearn, and Christopher Alan Lewis

271

during young adulthood. On the other hand, Margulies, Kessler and Kandel
(1977) did not find that church attendance predicted the onset of drinking
spirits among high school pupils in the United States of America. Francis
(1994) found no significant relationship between frequency of church attendance and reported drinking behaviour among his adult sample in England.
According to the third strand, a number of studies which proposed various
measures of religious belief, commitment, participation or experience found
that these measures correlated significantly with indices of drinking behaviour. For example, Globetti and Windham (1967) reported an inverse relationship between alcohol use and their seven item index of the importance of
religion among senior high school students. Preston (1969) reported an inverse
relationship between drinking and his index of religious participation. Carman (1971) reported an inverse relationship between his scale of religious
involvement and a scale of social problems resulting from drinking among
United States of America servicemen. Globetti (1972) found that the high
school students who scored high on his three item index of religious participation were less likely to use alcohol. Vener, Zaenglein and Stewart (1977)
reported a significant negative correlation between their scale of orthodox
religious beliefs and alcohol use among high school students. OConnor (1978)
found that 1821 year olds reporting a high level of importance of religion in
their lives tended to categorise among the lighter drinking groups, as did
Heim et al. (2004) among 1625 year olds. Turner and Willis (1979) found a
significant negative relationship between self-assessed levels of religiosity and
current alcohol use among college students. Hardert and Dowd (1994) found
that self-definition as religious did not affect alcohol use among a sample of
high school and college students in the United States of America, after the
effect of other factors had been accounted for. Potvin and Lee (1980) reported a
negative correlation between their personal-experiential religiousness scale
and alcohol use among 1318 year olds, a finding confirmed by Hays, Stacy,
Widaman, DiMattio, and Downeys (1986) reanalysis of these data. Khavari,
and Harmon (1982) found significantly elevated use of alcohol among subjects
who assess themselves as not religious at all. Sadava (1985) found an inverse
relationship between his scale of religious activities and experiences and an
index of the adverse consequences of drinking among a sample of adult factory
workers, nurses and teachers. Hundleby (1987) found an inverse relationship
between his index of religious behaviour and alcohol usage among ninth grade
students in Ontario. Harford and Grant (1987) reported a negative correlation
between their scale of importance placed on religion and drinking behaviour
among high school students. Jolly and Orford (1983) found that student
Christian Union membership was a significant predictor of abstinence.
Perkins (1985, 1987, 1991) reported that strength of religious commitment
had a negative effect on alcohol consumption and problem drinking among
college students. Cochran (1988) reported an inverse relationship between
participating salience in religious activities and alcohol use. Cochran and

272

Journal of Religion and Health

Akers (1989) found a negative relationship between alcohol consumption and


self-assessed religiousness among high school students. Welch, Tittle, and
Petee (1991) reported a small negative correlation between their scale of
personal religious practices and respondents tendency to drink excessively
among adult Catholic parishioners. Cochran (1989, 1991) found a significant
negative relationship between his single item index of participatory salience of
church group activities and alcohol use among pupils in grades seven through
twelve. In a subsequent analysis of these data, Cochran (1993) suggested that
there is a stronger inverse relationship between religiosity and the use of beer
and liquor than between religiosity and the use of wine. Bechtel and Swisher
(1992) reported an inverse relationship between time spent on religious
activities and the self-reported use of beer, wine and liquor among sixth to
twelfth grade students. Brizer (1993) reported an inverse relationship
between alcohol use and involvement in running a local church among psychiatric inpatients. Burkett (1993) reported an inverse relationship between a
quantity-frequency index of drinking beer, wine and liquor and a four item
index of religious commitment among both male and female senior high school
students. Koenig, George, Meador, Blazer, and Ford (1994) reported that
DSMIII alcohol disorders were significantly less common among weekly
churchgoers and those who are born again. Sutherland and Shepherd (2001)
found alcohol use to be significantly less practised among young people who
believe in God than among those who do not. Hammermeister, Flint, Havens,
and Peterson (2001) reported that the number of alcoholic drinks consumed
every day was significantly lower among those with high religious well-being
when compared with those with low religious well-being. Brown, Parks,
Zimmerman, and Phillips (2001) found an inverse relationship between fundamentalist beliefs and problematic drinking. Mason and Windle (2001) found
in their longitudinal study that religiosity, a measure combining church
attendance and self-rated importance of religion, was associated with declining alcohol use over time. Peltzer, Malaka, and Phaswana (2002) found an
inverse relationship between alcohol use and their three item measures of
religiosity. Daugherty and Mclarty (2003) found an inverse relationship
between religious coping and self-reported alcohol use. Nonnemaker,
McNeely, and Blum (2003) found that public religiosity, a variable combining
a measure of frequency of church attendance and participation in religious
youth group activities, and private religiosity, a variable combining frequency
of prayer and importance of religion, both impacted on alcohol use. Public
religiosity was shown to be negatively associated with any use of alcohol, and
problem use of alcohol, while private religiosity was shown to be negatively
associated with occasional alcohol use.
On the other hand, Mookherjee (1986) found no relationship between
scores on their eleven item scale of religious fundamentalism and
their assessment of individuals judged to be alcoholic, probable alcoholic or
non-alcoholic. Wiggins and Wiggins (1987) found no relationship between

Leslie J. Francis, Michael Fearn, and Christopher Alan Lewis

273

student religious belief and drinking behaviour. Borynski (2003) also found
no association between religiosity and alcohol among a sample of college
students in a study which examined binge drinking behaviour, and religious orientation. While Wechsler and Thum (1973) found a negative
relationship between self-assessed religiosity and level of alcohol use among
junior and senior high school students in one sample, they failed to
reproduce this finding among a second sample.
The inconsistencies within these three strands may, in part, be attributed to
the obvious discrepancies within the various measures of religiosity and the
different measures of alcohol related behaviours employed.
Religiosity and personality
A series of recent studies has carefully mapped the personality correlates of
religiosity among 11- to 17-year-old school pupils within the UK in terms of
Eysencks empirically derived three dimensional model of personality, which
argues that individual differences can be most adequately and economically
summarised in terms of the three orthogonal higher order factors of neuroticism-stability, extraversion-introversion, and psychoticism-tendermindedness
(Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985). A consistent pattern of relationships has emerged
from these studies, confirming four main trends.
First, Eysencks neuroticism scale measures emotional lability. High scorers
on this dimension are characterised as anxious, worrying individuals who are
moody and frequently depressed. After controlling for the expected sex
differences, according to which females score more highly than males on both
indices of religiosity (Argyle & Beit-Hallahmi, 1975; Beit-Hallahmi & Argyle,
1997) and neuroticism (Jorm, 1987), several sets of findings demonstrate no
significant relationship between neuroticism scores and religiosity (Francis,
Pearson, Carter, & Kay, 1981a; Francis, Pearson, & Kay, 1983a; Francis &
Pearson, 1991). This finding contradicts competing theories in the psychology of
religion which propose that religion either fosters or reflects neuroticism (Freud,
1950; Vine, 1978) or promotes emotional stability (Allport, 1950; Jung, 1938).
Second, Eysenck defines high scorers on the psychoticism scale as cold,
impersonal, hostile, unemotional, unhelpful, paranoid and tough-minded. In
spite of recognised theoretical and empirical difficulties associated with the
earlier editions of both the adult (Eysenck, Eysenck, & Barrett, 1985) and the
junior psychoticism scales (Corulla, 1990), repeated analyses demonstrate a
significant negative relationship between psychoticism scores and religiosity
(Francis, 1992a; Francis & Pearson, 1985a; Kay, 1981). This finding is consistent with Eysencks central theory relating personality and social attitudes.
According to this theory, religion belongs to the domain of tenderminded social
attitudes (Eysenck, 1975, 1976), tenderminded social attitudes are a function
of conditioning (Eysenck, 1954, 1961) and individuals who score low on
psychoticism have been shown by many empirical studies to condition more
readily (Beyts, Frcka, Martin, & Levey, 1983). However, Dunne, Martin

274

Journal of Religion and Health

Pangan and Heath (1997) have suggested that rather than psychoticism, it is
actually neuroticism which is most important for the long-term stability of
frequent religious practice.
Third, Eysenck defines the higher scorer on the extraversion scale as sociable, outgoing, impulsive, carefree and optimistic. This definition clearly
combines the two notions of sociability and impulsivity (Eysenck & Eysenck,
1963). While the two components appear to have been more evenly balanced in
the earlier editions of the extraversion scale, the more recent editions have
been largely purified of impulsivity which now relates more closely to
psychoticism (Rocklin & Revelle, 1981). While according to the earlier
operationalisations of extraversion, introverts emerge as more religious,
according to the later operationalisations repeated analyses demonstrate no
significant relationship between extraversion scores and religiosity (Francis &
Pearson, 1985b; Francis, Pearson, & Kay, 1983b; Francis, Pearson, Carter, &
Kay, 1981b). This finding is consistent with the evidence of empirical studies
which identify impulsivity as the component within extraversion and
psychoticism which is fundamental to conditionability (Pearson, Francis, &
Lightbown, 1986). Thus the removal of the impulsivity component from
extraversion vitiates this theoretical basis for associating the personality
dimension of extraversion with religiosity.
Fourth, Eysenck introduced the lie scale into his personality measures in
order to detect the faking of questionnaire responses. The high scorer on the
lie scale consistently affirms behaviours which are socially desirable but very
unlikely and rejects behaviours which are very likely but socially undesirable.
Repeated analyses demonstrate a positive significant relationship between lie
scale scores and religiosity (Francis, Pearson, & Kay, 1983c, 1988; Pearson &
Francis, 1989). The theoretical interpretation of this consistent finding is,
however, confused by the growing debate concerning the psychological
significance of the lie scale (Furnham, 1986). Four main theories emerge from
this debate. The straightforward view that lie scales measure untruthfulness
(ODonovan, 1969) suggests that religious subjects are bigger liars. The
paradoxical view that lie scales actually measure truthfulness (Loo, 1980)
proposes the theory that religious subjects are more truthful. The third view
suggests that high lie scores indicate lack of self-insight (Crookes & Buckley,
1976) and leads to the theory that religious subjects are less insightful and less
mature. The fourth view suggests that high lie scores indicate social
conformity (Massey, 1980) and leads to the view that religious subjects are
generally more socially conformist.
The consensus of these focused analyses is given further support by studies
conducted among other samples of school pupils in the United Kingdom, using
the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity in either the junior form
(Francis, 1978, 1989) or the adult form (Francis, 1992b; Francis & Stubbs, 1987),
including 811 year olds (Robbins, Francis, & Gibbs, 1995), 11 year olds (Francis, Lankshear, & Pearson, 1989), 1216 year olds (Francis & Montgomery,

Leslie J. Francis, Michael Fearn, and Christopher Alan Lewis

275

1992), 1516 year olds (Francis & Pearson, 1988) and 1618 year olds (Fearn,
Lewis, & Francis, 2003; Francis & Fearn, 1999; Wilcox & Francis, 1997) . The
findings have also been replicated among secondary school pupils in Germany
(Francis & Kwiran, 1999) and Hong Kong (Francis, Lewis, & Ng, 2003).
Another set of studies has employed the Francis Scale of Attitude toward
Christianity alongside the Eysenck measures of personality among students
and adults, including studies in the United Kingdom (Bourke & Francis, 2000;
Carter, Kay, & Francis, 1996; Francis, 1991, 1992a, 1993, 1999; Francis &
Bennett, 1992; Shuter-Dyson, 2000), Australia and Canada (Francis, Lewis,
Brown, Philipchalk, & Lester, 1995), Northern Ireland (Lewis, 1999, 2000,
2001; Lewis and Joseph, 1994), Republic of Ireland (Maltby, 1997; Maltby &
Lewis, 1997), the United States of America (Lewis & Maltby, 1995; Roman &
Lester, 1999), France (Lewis & Francis, 2000), and Greece (Youtika, Joseph,
& Diduca, 1999). Once again the basic pattern was confirmed that attitude
toward Christianity was negatively correlated with psychoticism, but
unrelated to either extraversion or neuroticism.
The wider international literature exploring the location of religion within
Eysencks dimensional model of personality among samples of adults has,
however, failed to reach such a clear consensus. While Wilson and Brazendale
(1973), Chlewinski (1981), Caird (1987) and Robinson (1990) confirm the lack
of relationship between neuroticism and religiosity, Johnson et al. (1989) report a negative relationship in one of their samples and Watson, Morris,
Foster, and Hood (1986), Heaven (1990) and Biegel and Lester (1990) find
evidence for positive relationships. While Wilson and Brazendale (1973) and
Chlewinski (1981) confirm the hypothesised negative relationship between
religiosity and Eysencks early measures of extraversion, Siegman (1963),
Pearson and Sheffield (1976) and Biegel and Lester (1990) fail to confirm this
finding. Similarly, several studies using the more recent editions of Eysencks
personality measures fail to find a consistent negative correlation between
religion and psychoticism (Caird, 1987; Heaven, 1990; Robinson, 1990;
Watson, et al., 1986). While Wilson and Brazendale (1973), Nias (1973) and
Francis and Katz (1992) confirm the positive relationship between religiosity
and lie scale scores, other studies fail to replicate this consistent pattern
(Caird, 1987; Heaven, 1990; Pearson & Sheffield, 1976; Robinson, 1990;
Watson, et al., 1986). The discrepancies which emerge from the wider international literature may, in part, be attributed to the wide range of indices of
religiosity employed in these studies.
Personality and alcohol
The wider literature on the relationship between Eysencks dimensional model
of personality and the use of alcohol confirms that psychoticism is a key
personality factor in this area. Higher psychoticism scores have been found
among groups of men and women described with severe alcohol dependence
(Rankin, Stockwell, & Hodgson, 1982). Other studies have reported significant

276

Journal of Religion and Health

correlations between psychoticism scores and beer and cider consumption


(Allsopp, 1986), alcohol consumption (Grau & Ortet, 1999), getting drunk and
using hard drugs (Cookson, 1994). On the other hand, while Ogden, Dundas,
and Bhat (1989) found higher psychoticism scores among male alcohol
misusers in community treatment, the women in their sample did not differ
significantly from the population norms.
The majority of studies also confirm a clear relationship between neuroticism
and the use of alcohol. Higher neuroticism scores have been found among
individuals attending Alcoholics Anonymous (Edwards, Hensman, Hawker, &
Williamson, 1966), young alcoholics (Rosenberg, 1969), male and female chronic
alcoholics (Keehan, 1970), alcoholics (Shaw, MacSweeney, Johnson, & Merry,
1975), men and women with severe alcohol dependency (Rankin, Stockwell, &
Hodgson, 1982), alcohol misusers in community treatment (Ogden, Dundas, &
Bhat, 1989). On the other hand, research has found no significant correlation
between neuroticism scores and beer and cider consumption (Allsopp, 1986),
habitual alcohol consumption (Jackson & Matthews, 1988), getting drunk
(Cookson, 1994), or alcohol consumption (Grau & Ortet, 1999).
The relationship between extraversion and the use of alcohol is much less
clear. Lower extraversion scores have been found among men with severe
alcohol dependency (Rankin, Stockwell, & Hodgson, 1982), and alcohol misusers in community treatment (Ogden, Dundas, & Bhat, 1989). On the other
hand, no significant relationship with extraversion scores has been reported
among individuals attending Alcoholics Anonymous (Edwards, Hensman,
Hawker, & Williamson, 1966), young alcoholics (Rosenberg, 1969), alcoholics
(Shaw, MacSweeney, Johnson, & Merry, 1975), women with severe alcohol
dependency (Rankin, Stockwell, & Hodgson, 1982). Similarly, Cookson (1994)
found no relationship between extraversion scores and getting drunk or using
hard drugs. At the same time, Allsopp (1986) found higher consumptions of
beer and cider among extraverted young men. Jackson and Mathews (1988)
found a positive correlation between extraversion and habitual alcohol
consumption, and Grau and Ortet report a positive correlation between
extraversion and alcohol consumption (1999).
Finally, lower lie scale scores have been found among alcoholics (Shaw,
MacSweeney, Johnson, & Merry, 1975). At the same time, no significant differences were found in lie scale scores among men and women with severe
alcohol dependency (Rankin, Stockwell and Hodgson, 1982). While Ogden,
Dundas, and Bhat (1989) found lower lie scale scores among male alcohol
misusers in community treatment, the women in their sample did not differ
significantly from the population norms. Jackson and Matthews (1988) found
no correlation between lie scale scores and habitual alcohol consumption.
Similarly Grau and Ortet (1999) report no correlation between lie scale scores
and alcohol consumption.
More recently, Francis (1997) has examined the relationship between personality, various markers of religiosity and substance use, including an item

Leslie J. Francis, Michael Fearn, and Christopher Alan Lewis

277

on drunkenness, among a sample of 1315 year olds in the United Kingdom.


Bivariate analysis demonstrated that a more permissive attitude toward
substance use was associated with higher psychoticism scores, higher extraversion scores, higher neuroticism scores, lower lie scale scores, and higher
frequencies of prayer and church attendance, and higher levels of belief in the
existence of God. However, multiple-regression analysis employed by Francis
(1997) demonstrated that when all of the variables were considered together,
scores on the Eysenckian psychoticism scale were the strongest single predictor of attitude toward substance abuse, although the other dimensions of
personality provided further predictive power. Having taken into account all
other predictor variables, belief in God remained the only religious variable to
provide additional predictive power.
Research question
The interrelationship of these three schools of research suggests that the
apparent direct relationship between religiosity and attitude toward alcohol
may, at least in part, be a function of individual differences in personality.
While religiosity is clearly related to low psychoticism scores and high lie scale
scores, a permissive attitude toward substance use is clearly related to high
psychoticism scores and low lie scale scores. The aim of the present study is to
explore these interrelations between personality, religiosity and attitude
toward alcohol use among a sample of 16- to 18-year-old adolescents, using
correlation and multiple regression analyses.
In the operationalisation of this research question the present project builds
on Francis (1997) and extends that project in two important ways. First,
although Francis (1997) included several indices of religiosity the study failed
to include an attitudinal measure. Since a number of recent studies have drawn
attention to the centrality of the attitudinal dimension of religiosity as a predictor of a range of social and personal values and behaviours (Kay & Francis,
1996), the present study incorporates such a measure. Second, although
Francis (1997) included an item concerned with attitude toward alcohol, it did
so only as a component part of assessing a wider construct defined as attitude
toward substance use. Since a number of recent studies have drawn attention to
the ways in which religiosity may be related in different ways to attitudes
toward different substances (Francis and Mullen, 1993), the present study
incorporates a scale specifically concerned with attitude toward alcohol.

Method
Sample
The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 243 16- to 18-year-old
sixth-form students in Northern Ireland. Fifty-four percent (131) of the
respondents were female and 46% (112) were male.

278

Journal of Religion and Health

Measures
All respondents completed the following measures:
The Francis Scale of Attitude toward Alcohol (Francis, 1992c). This instrument contains sixteen Likert-type items, using the five response categories:
agree strongly, agree, not certain, disagree and disagree strongly. Scores can
range between 16 and 90, with a higher score indicating a more proscriptive
attitude toward alcohol. The instrument has previously been shown to function
with satisfactory reliability among a sample of 315 individuals concerned with
youth work in England (Francis, 1992c) and among 200 student members of the
Christian Union in Northern Ireland and Scotland (Francis, Gilpin, & Robbins,
1999). In each of these studies coefficients alpha in excess of .8 were achieved.
The Abbreviated Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Francis,
Brown, & Philipchalk, 1992). This instrument proposes six-item measures of
extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism and the lie scale. Each item is
assessed on the two point scale: yes and no. For each sub-scale, scores can
range between 0 and 6, with higher scores indicating a greater degree of the
particular personality trait. The instrument has previously been shown to
function with satisfactory psychometric properties among student samples in
Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and United States (Francis, Brown, &
Philipchalk, 1992) and Northern Ireland (Forrest, Lewis, & Shevlin, 2000).
The Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity (Francis & Stubbs, 1987). This
instrument contains 24 Likert-type items concerned with God, Jesus, bible, church
and prayer. There are five possible response categories: agree strongly, agree, not
certain, disagree and disagree strongly. Scores can range between 24 and 120.
Higher scores indicate a more positive attitude toward Christianity. This scale has
been employed in over 100 independent studies and has been shown consistently to
function with a level of internal reliability in excess of .8 (Kay & Francis, 1996).
Personal prayer was measured on the five point scale: daily, at least once a
week, sometimes, once or twice a year and never. Higher scores indicate a
greater frequency of practice.
Church attendance was measured on the five point scale: at least once a
week, at least once a month, sometimes, once or twice a year, and never.
Higher scores indicate a greater frequency of practice.
Denominational affiliation was assessed via a pre-coded question appropriate to the religious profile of Northern Ireland. The options were: none,
Catholic, Protestant, and other. For the purpose of the current study only the
data provided by those individuals who identified as either Catholic or as
Protestant were analysed. This variable was dichotomised (0 = Protestant;
1 = Catholic) and entered as a dummy variable.
Data analysis
The data were analysed by means of the SPSS statistical package, using the
Pearson correlation, reliability and multiple-regression routines (SPSS Inc.,
1988).

Leslie J. Francis, Michael Fearn, and Christopher Alan Lewis

279

Results
The first step in data analysis explored the internal reliability of the scales
employed in the study. Satisfactory levels of reliability were found for each of
the measures used in the study: Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Alcohol
achieved a coefficient alpha (Cronbach, 1951) of, .89; Francis Scale of Attitude
toward Christianity, .96; extraversion, .80; neuroticism, .71; psychoticism, .39;
lie scale, .59. The relatively low level of reliability of the psychoticism scale is
consistent with known problems with the parent instrument and with known
difficulties in operationalising this construct (Francis, Brown, & Philipchalk,
1992).
The three religious variables all demonstrated a wide range of responses. In
response to the question about personal prayer, 26.5% reported praying daily,
18.2% at least once a week, 31.8% sometimes, 8.0% once or twice a year, and
15.4% never. In response to the question about church attendance, 38.3%
reported attending church every week, 15.7% at least once a month, 22.8%
sometimes, 16.7% once or twice a year, and 6.5% never.
The second step in data analysis explored the bivariate relationships
between the variables. Table 1 presents the correlations between the measures of personality, religiosity, and attitude toward alcohol. Regarding the
relationship between attitude toward alcohol and religiosity, the correlation
coefficients indicate that a more proscriptive attitude toward alcohol is
associated with a more positive attitude toward Christianity, and increased
frequencies of personal prayer and church attendance. Regarding the relaTABLE 1
Correlation Matrix Showing the Relationships between Personality,
Religiosity and Attitude toward Alcohol
Psy

Ext

Neu

Lie

Alcohol Denomination

Prayer

)0.2035 )0.1292 0.0550 0.0839


0.001
0.05
NS
NS

0.2818
0.001

0.1797
0.001

Church

)0.2857 )0.2323 0.0830 0.1975


0.001
0.001
NS
0.001

0.2809
0.001

0.1620
0.001

Attitude toward )0.4158 )0.1441 0.0447 0.1441


Christianity
0.001
0.01
NS
0.01

0.3321
0.001

0.0322
NS

Denomination

)0.0514
NS

0.0946 0.0236 0.1809 )0.0133


NS
NS
0.001
NS

Attitude toward )0.2769 )0.1961 0.2411 0.0160


alcohol
0.001
0.001 0.001
NS

280

Journal of Religion and Health

tionship between attitude toward alcohol and personality, the correlation


coefficients indicate that a more proscriptive attitude toward alcohol is significantly associated with tendermindedness rather than toughmindedness
(psychoticism), introversion rather than extraversion, and with neuroticism
rather than stability, Attitude toward alcohol is shown to be unrelated to lie
scale scores. Regarding the relationship between personality and religiosity,
the correlation coefficients indicate the following pattern. Neuroticism is
unrelated to any of the religious variables. Psychoticism is negatively associated with frequency of prayer, church attendance, and attitude toward
Christianity. Extraversion is negatively associated with frequency of prayer,
church attendance and attitude toward Christianity. Lie scale scores are
positively associated with frequency of church attendance, and attitude
toward Christianity, but not with prayer.
The third step in the data analysis explored whether the relationship
between religiosity and attitude toward alcohol is, at least in part, a function
of individual differences in personality by means of a multiple regression
model. Table 2 therefore, presents the multiple regression significance tests
designed to test a multivariate model of the simultaneous influence of age, sex,
religiosity and personality on attitude toward alcohol. The first stage in the
model regressed sex and age, in this fixed order, on the attitude toward alcohol
measure. The data demonstrate that neither sex nor age functioned as significant predictors of attitude toward alcohol scores. The second stage in the
model regressed the three dimensions of personality in the fixed order of
TABLE 2
Multiple Regression Significance Test: The Relative Impact of the
Predictor Variables on Attitude toward Alcohol
Increase
Predictor variable
Sex
Age
Psy
Ext
Neu
Lie
Attitude
Attendance
Prayer
Denomination

r2

r2

p<

0.0025
0.0058
0.0793
0.0981
0.1122
0.1140
0.1770
0.1877
0.1929
0.1941

0.0025
0.0033
0.0735
0.0188
0.0141
0.0018
0.0631
0.0107
0.0052
0.0012

0.82
1.06
25.46
6.64
5.02
0.63
24.14
4.15
2.00
0.45

NS
NS
0.001
0.01
0.05
NS
0.001
0.05
NS
NS

0.0196
)0.0231
)0.1005
)0.0551
0.1663
)0.0646
0.1586
0.1111
0.1043
)0.0381

0.4
)0.4
)1.6
)1.0
2.9
)1.2
2.1
1.7
1.5
)0.7

p<
NS
NS
NS
NS
0.01
NS
0.05
NS
NS
NS

Leslie J. Francis, Michael Fearn, and Christopher Alan Lewis

281

psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism, and the lie scale on the attitude
toward alcohol measure. The beta weights demonstrate that extraversion,
psychoticism, and lie scale scores were not significant predictors of attitude
toward alcohol scores. Neuroticism scores, however, significantly impacted on
attitude toward alcohol scores. The third stage in the model regressed attitude
toward Christianity, frequency of church attendance, frequency of prayer, and
denominational affiliation in this fixed order, on the attitude toward alcohol
measure. According to the beta weights a more positive attitude toward
Christianity is associated with a more prohibitive attitude toward alcohol.
Having taken into account the impact of attitude toward Christianity, neither
personal prayer, church attendance, nor denominational affiliation made a
significant difference to attitude toward alcohol scores.

Discussion
The present study has integrated two schools of research which had hitherto
been conducted in relative isolation. These schools concern the relationship
between personality and attitude toward alcohol and the relationship between
religiosity and attitude toward alcohol. By employing multiple indices of
religiosity the present project has also enabled comparison to be made
between the power of different aspects of religiosity to predict individual
differences in attitude toward alcohol. Three main conclusions emerge from
the present study.
First, correlational analyses have demonstrated that religiosity and personality are implicated in the formation of adolescent attitudes toward alcohol.
In terms of religiosity, the attitudinal dimension is a more robust predictor of
attitude toward alcohol than the behavioural measures employed. In terms of
personality, although extraversion, and neuroticism are significantly related
to attitude toward alcohol, it is psychoticism which, in the bivariate analysis,
emerges as the most significant predictor of attitude toward alcohol. These two
key predictors of attitude toward alcohol are of theoretical interest owing to
their fundamental relationship to each other (Francis, 1992a), and to the
realm of tenderminded social attitudes.
Second, multiple regression analysis confirm the importance of personal
religiosity in predicting individual differences in attitude toward alcohol, even
after controlling for personality variables. In other words the influence of
personal religiosity on attitude toward alcohol reported in previous studies
cannot be explained as an artefact of personality differences, even though
personality is known to account for some of the variance in individual differences both in personal religiosity and in attitude toward substance use.
The multiple regression analysis demonstrates that neither religious practice (church attendance and prayer) nor religious affiliation convey much

282

Journal of Religion and Health

additional information after taking attitude toward Christianity into account.


These data, therefore, suggest that it is religious attitude rather than practice
which is most important in shaping the relationship between religiosity and
attitude toward substance use.
On this basis the recommendation can be made that future research concerned with the relationship between religion and alcohol should include
measures of religious attitude either in place of or in addition to measures of
religious behaviour and affiliation.

Acknowledgment
This project was supported by a Small Grant from the Alcohol Education and
Research Council.

References
Adlaf, E.M., and Smart, R.G. (1985). Drug use and religious affiliation, feelings and behaviour.
British Journal of Addiction, 80, 163171.
Ajzen, I. (1988). Attitudes, personality and behaviour. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Allport, G.W. (1950). The individual and his religion. New York: Macmillan.
Allsopp, J.F. (1986). Personality as a determinant of beer and cider consumption among young
men. Personality and Individual Differences, 7, 341347.
Amoateng, A.Y., and Bahr, S.J. (1986). Religion, family and adolescent drug use. Sociological
Perspectives, 29, 5376.
Argyle, M., and Beit-Hallahmi, B. (1975). The social psychology of religion. London: Routledge and
Kegan Paul.
Barber, J.G., and Grichting, W.L. (1987). The assessment of drug attitudes among university
students using the short form of the drug attitude scale. International Journal of the Addictions,
22, 10331039.
Bechtel, L.J., and Swisher, J.D. (1992). An analysis of the relationship among selected attitudinal,
demographic, and behavioural variables and the self-reported alcohol use behaviours of Pennsylvania adolescents. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, 37(2):8393.
Beeghley, L., Bock, E.W., and Cochran, J.K. (1990). Religious change and alcohol use: an application of references group and socialization theory. Sociological Forum, 5, 261278.
Beit-Hallahmi, B., and Argyle, M. (1997). The psychology of religious behaviour, belief & experience. London: Routledge.
Beyts, J., Frcka, G., Martin, I., and Levey, A.B. (1983). The influence of psychoticism and extraversion on classical eyelid conditioning using a paraorbital shock UCS. Personality and Individual Differences, 4, 275283.
Biegel, K., and Lester, D. (1990). Religiosity and psychological disturbance, Psychological Reports,
67, 874.
Biggs, D.A., Orcutt, J.B., and Bakkenist, N. (1974). Correlates of marijuana and alcohol use among
college students. Journal of College Student Personnel, 15, 2230.
Bock, E.W., Cochran, J.K., and Beeghley, L. (1987). Moral messages: the relative influence of
denomination on the religiosity-alcohol relationship. The Sociological Quarterly, 28, 89103.
Bourke, R., and Francis, L.J. (2000). Personality and religion among music students. Pastoral
Psychology, 48, 437444.
Borgatta, E.F., Montgomery, R. J. V., and Borgatta, M.L. (1982). Alcohol use and abuse, life crises
events and the elderly. Research on Aging, 4, 378408.

Leslie J. Francis, Michael Fearn, and Christopher Alan Lewis

283

Borynski, M.L. (2003). Factors related to reductions in alcohol consumption among college
students: The role of religious involvement. Current Psychology, 22, 138148.
Bouma, G.D., and Dixon, B.R. (1987). The religious factor in Australian life. Melbourne: MARC
Australia.
Brizer, D.A. (1993). Religiosity and drug use among psychiatric inpatients. American Journal of
Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 19, 337345.
Brown, T.L., Parks, G.S., Zimmerman, R.S., and Phillips, C.M. (2001). The role of religion in
predicting adolescent alcohol use and problem drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 62, 696
705.
Burkett, S.R. (1977). Religion, parental influence, and adolescent alcohol and marijuana use.
Journal of Drug Issues, 7, 263273.
Burkett, S.R. (1980). Religiosity, beliefs, normative standards and adolescent drinking. Journal of
Studies on Alcohol, 41, 662671.
Burkett, S. R (1993). Perceived parents religiosity, friends drinking, and hellfire: A panel study of
adolescent drinking. Review of Religious Research, 35, 134153.
Burkett, S.R., and White, M. (1974). Hellfire and delinquency: Another look. Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion, 13, 455462.
Cahalan, D., Cisin, I.H., and Crossley, H.M. (1969). American drinking practice: A national study
of drinking behaviour and attitudes. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers Centre for Alcohol
Studies.
Cahalan, D., and Room, R. (1972). Problem drinking among American men aged 2159. American
Journal of Public Health, 62, 14731483.
Caird, D. (1987). Religiosity and personality: Are mystics introverted, neurotic, or psychotic?
British Journal of Social Psychology, 26, 345346.
Carman, R.S. (1971). Expectations and socialization experiences related to drinking among US
service men. Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 32, 10401047.
Carter, M., Kay, W.K., and Francis, L.J. (1996). Personality and attitude toward Christianity
among committed adult Christians. Personality and Individual Differences, 20, 265266.
Chafetz, E., and Demone, H.E. (1962). Alcoholism and society. New York: Oxford University Press.
Champion, R.A., and Bell, D.S. (1980). Attitudes toward drug use: Trends and correlates with
actual use. International Journal of the Addictions, 15, 551567.
Chlewinski, Z. (1981). Personality and attitude towards religion in Poland. Personality and
Individual Differences, 2, 243245.
Clarke, L., Beeghley, L., and Cochran, J.K. (1990). Religiosity social class and alcohol use: An
application of reference group theory. Sociological Perspectives, 33, 201218.
Cochran, J.K. (1988). The effect of religiosity on secular and ascetic deviance. Sociological Focus,
21, 293306.
Cochran, J.K. (1989). Another look at delinquency and religiosity. Sociological Spectrum, 9, 147162.
Cochran, J.K. (1991). The effects of religiosity on adolescent self-reported frequency of drug and
alcohol use. Journal of Drug Issues, 22, 91104.
Cochran, J.K. (1993). The variable effects of religiosity and denomination on adolescent selfreported alcohol use by beverage type. Journal of Drug Issues, 23, 479491.
Cochran, J.K., and Akers, R. (1989). Beyond hellfire: An exploration of the variable effects of
religiosity on adolescent marijuana and alcohol use. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 26, 198225.
Cochran, J.K., Beeghley, L., and Bock, E.W. (1988). Religiosity and alcohol behaviour: an exploration of reference group theory. Sociological Forum, 3, 256276.
Cochran, J.K., Beeghley, L., and Bock, E.W. (1992). The influence of religious stability and
homogamy on the relationship between religiosity and alcohol use among Protestants. Journal
for the Scientific Study of Religion, 31, 441456.
Cookson, H. (1994). Personality variables associated with alcohol use in young offenders. Personality and Individual Differences, 16, 179182.
Corulla, W.J. (1990). A revised version of the psychoticism scale for children. Personality and
Individual Differences, 11, 6576.
Cosper, R.L., Okraku, I.O., and Neumann, B. (1987). Tavern going in Canada: a national survey of
regulars at public drinking establishments. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48, 252259.
Cronbach, L.J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16,
297334.

284

Journal of Religion and Health

Crookes, T.G., and Buckley, S.J. (1976). Lie score and insight. Irish Journal of Psychology, 3, 134136.
Daugherty, T.K., and McLarty, L.M. (2003). Religious coping, drinking motivation, and sex.
Psychological Reports, 92, 643647.
Donovan, J.E., Jessor, R., and Jessor, L. (1983). Problem drinking in adolescence and young
adulthood. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 44, 109137.
Dunne, M.P., Martin, N.G., Pangan, T., and Heath, A. C. (1997). Personality and change in the
frequency of religious observance. Personality and Individual Differences, 23, 527530.
Edwards, G., Hensman, C., Hawker, A., and Williamson, V. (1966). Who goes to alcoholics
anonymous?. Lancet, 2, 382384.
Eiser, J.R., and van der Pligt, J. (1988). Attitudes and decisions. London: Routledge.
Elifson, K.W., Petersen, D.M., and Hadaway, C.K. (1983). Religiosity and delinquency. Criminology, 21, 505527.
Engs, R.C., Hanson, D.J., Gliksman, L., and Smythe, C. (1990). Influence of religion and culture on
drinking behaviours: A test of hypotheses between Canada and the USA. British Journal of
Addiction, 85, 14751482.
Eysenck, H.J. (1954). The Psychology of Politics. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Eysenck, H.J. (1961). Personality and social attitudes. Journal of Social Psychology, 53, 243248.
Eysenck, H.J. (1975). The structure of social attitudes. British Journal of Social and Clinical
Psychology, 14, 323331.
Eysenck, H.J. (1976). Structure of social attitudes. Psychological Reports, 39, 463466.
Eysenck, H.J., and Eysenck, M.W. (1985). Personality and Individual Differences: A natural science approach. New York: Plenum Press.
Eysenck, S. B. G., and Eysenck, H.J. (1963). On the dual nature of extraversion. British Journal of
Social and Clinical Psychology, 2, 4655.
Eysenck, S. B. G., Eysenck, H.J., and Barrett, P. (1985). A revised version of the psychoticism
scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 2129.
Faulkner, K.K., Alcorn, J.D., and Garvin, R.B. (1989). Prediction of alcohol consumption among
fraternity pledges. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, 34(2):1220.
Fearn, M., Lewis, C.A., and Francis, L.J. (2003). Religion and personality among religious studies
students: A replication. Psychological Reports, 93, 819822.
Forrest, S., Lewis, C.A., and Shevlin, M. (2000). Examining the factor structure and differential
functioning of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised-Abbreviated. Personality and
Individual Differences, 29, 579588.
Francis, L.J. (1978). Attitude and longitude: A study in measurement. Character Potential, 8,
119130.
Francis, L.J. (1989). Measuring attitude towards Christianity during childhood and adolescence.
Personality and Individual Differences, 10, 695698.
Francis, L.J. (1991). Personality and attitude towards religion among adult churchgoers in England. Psychological Reports, 69, 791794.
Francis, L.J. (1992a). Is psychoticism really a dimension of personality fundamental to religiosity?
Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 645652.
Francis, L.J. (1992b). Reliability and validity of the Francis scale of attitude towards Christianity
(adult). Panorama, 4(1):1719.
Francis, L.J. (1992c). Attitudes towards alcohol, church attendance and denominational identity.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 31, 4550.
Francis, L.J. (1993). Personality and religion among college students in the UK. Personality and
Individual Differences, 14, 619622.
Francis, L.J. (1994). Denominational identity, church attendance and drinking behaviour among
adults in England. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, 39(3):2733.
Francis, L. J (1997). The impact of personality and religion on attitude towards substance use
among 1315 year olds. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 44, 95103.
Francis, L.J. (1999). Personality and attitude toward Christianity among undergraduates. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 8, 179195.
Francis, L.J., and Bennett, G.A. (1992). Personality and religion among female drug misusers.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 30, 2731.
Francis, L.J., Brown, L.B., and Philipchalk, R. (1992). The development of an abbreviated form of
the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQR-A): Its use among students in England,
Canada, The USA, and Australia. Personality and Individual Differences, 13(4):443449.

Leslie J. Francis, Michael Fearn, and Christopher Alan Lewis

285

Francis, L.J., and Fearn, M. (1999). Religion and personality: A study among A-level students.
Transpersonal Psychology Review, 3(2):2630.
Francis, L.J., Gilpin, G., and Robbins, M. (1999). The reliability of the Francis Scale of Attitude
toward Alcohol among student members of the Christian Union in Northern Ireland and
Scotland. Irish Journal of Psychology, 20, 8992.
Francis, L.J., and Katz, Y. (1992). The relationship between personality and religiosity in an
Israeli sample. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 31, 153162.
Francis, L.J., and Kwiran, M. (1999). Personality and religion among secondary pupils in Germany. Panorama, 11, 3444.
Francis, L.J., Lankshear, D.W., and Pearson, P.R. (1989). The relationship between religiosity and
the short form JEPQ (JEPQ-S) indices of E, N, L and P among eleven year olds. Personality and
Individual Differences, 10, 763769.
Francis, L.J., Lewis, C.A., and Ng, P. (2003). Psychological health and attitude toward Christianity among secondary school pupils in Hong Kong. Journal of Psychology in Chinese Societies,
4, 231245.
Francis, L.J., Lewis, J.M., Brown, L.B., Philipchalk, R., and Lester, D. (1995). Personality and
religion among undergraduate students in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and
Canada. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 14, 250262.
Francis, L.J., and Montgomery, A. (1992). Personality and attitudes towards religion among 11
16 year old girls in a single sex Catholic school. British Journal of Religious Education, 14, 114
119.
Francis, L.J., and Pearson, P.R. (1985a). Psychoticism and religiosity among 15 year olds. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 397398.
Francis, L.J., and Pearson, P.R. (1985b). Extraversion and religiosity. Journal of Social Psychology, 125, 269270.
Francis, L.J., and Pearson, P.R. (1988). Religiosity and the short-scale EPQ-R indices of E, N and L,
compared with the JEPI, JEPQ and EPQ. Personality and Individual Differences, 9, 653657.
Francis, L.J., and Pearson, P.R. (1991). Religiosity, gender and the two faces of neuroticism. Irish
Journal of Psychology, 12, 6068.
Francis, L.J., Pearson, P.R., Carter, M., and Kay, W.K. (1981a). The relationship between neuroticism and religiosity among English 15- and 16-year olds. Journal of Social Psychology, 114,
99102.
Francis, L.J., Pearson, P.R., Carter, M., and Kay, W.K. (1981b). Are introverts more religious?.
British Journal of Social Psychology, 20, 101104.
Francis, L.J., Pearson, P.R., and Kay, W.K. (1983a). Neuroticism and religiosity among English
school children. Journal of Social Psychology, 121, 149150.
Francis, L.J., Pearson, P.R., and Kay, W.K. (1983b). Are introverts still more religious?. Personality and Individual Differences, 4, 211212.
Francis, L.J., Pearson, P.R., and Kay, W.K. (1983c). Are religious children bigger liars?. Psychological Reports, 52, 551554.
Francis, L.J., Pearson, P.R., and Kay, W.K. (1988). Religiosity and lie scores: A question of
interpretation. Social Behaviour and Personality, 16, 9195.
Francis, L.J., and Stubbs, M.T. (1987). Measuring attitudes towards Christianity: From childhood
to adulthood. Personality and Individual Differences, 8, 741743.
Freud, S. (1950). Totem and Taboo. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Furnham, A. (1986). Response bias, social desirability and dissimulation. Personality and Individual Differences, 7, 385400.
Globetti, G. (1969). The use of alcohol among high school students in an abstinence setting. Pacific
Sociological Review, 12, 105108.
Globetti, G. (1972). Problem and non-problem drinking among high school students in abstinence
communities. International Journal of Addiction, 7, 511523.
Globetti, G., and Windham, G.O. (1967). The social adjustment of high school students and the use
of beverage alcohol. Sociology and Social Research, 51, 148157.
Gottlieb, N.H., and Green, L.W. (1984). Life events, social network, life-style, and health: An
analysis of the 1979 national survey of personal health practices and consequences. Health
Education Quarterly, 11, 91105.
Grau, E., and Ortet, G. (1999). Personality traits and alcohol consumption in a sample of nonalcoholic women. Personality and Individual Differences, 27, 10571066.

286

Journal of Religion and Health

Hadaway, C.K., Elifson, K.W., and Petersen, D.M. (1984). Religious involvement and drug use
among urban adolescents. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 23, 109128.
Hammermeister, J., Flint, M., Havens, J., and Peterson, M. (2001). Psychosocial and health related characteristics of religious well-being. Psychological Reports, 89, 589594.
Hanson, D.J. (1974). Drinking attitudes and behaviour among college students. Journal of Alcohol
and Drug Education, 19, 614.
Hanson, D.J., and Engs, R.C. (1987). Religion and collegiate drinking problems over time. Psychology, 24, 1012.
Hardert, R.A., and Dowd, T.J. (1994). Alcohol and marijuana use among high school and college
students in Phoenix, Arizona: A test of Kandels socialization theory. International Journal of
Addictions, 29, 887912.
Harford, T.C., and Grant, B.F. (1987). Psychosocial factors in adolescent drinking contexts.
Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48, 551557.
Hawks, R.D., and Bahr, S.H. (1992). Religion and drug use. Journal of Drug Education, 22, 18.
Hays, R.D., Stacy, A.W., Widaman, K.F., DiMatteo, M.R., and Downey, R. (1986). Multistage path
models of adolescent alcohol and drug use: A re-analysis. Journal of Drug Issues, 16, 357369.
Heaven, P. C. L. (1990). Religious values and personality dimensions. Personality and Individual
Differences, 11, 953956.
Heim, D., Hunter, S.C., Ross, A.J., Bakshi, N., Davies, J.B., Flatley, K.J., and Meer, N. (2004).
Alcohol consumption, perceptions of community responses and attitudes toward service provision: Results from a survey of Indian, Chinese and Pakistani young people in Greater Glasgow,
Scotland, UK. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 39, 220226.
Higgins, P.C., and Albrecht, G.L. (1977). Hellfire and delinquency revisited. Social Forces, 55,
952958.
Hilton, M.E., and Clark, W.B. (1987). Changes in American drinking patterns and problems,
19671984. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48, 515522.
Hundleby, J.D. (1987). Adolescent drug use in a behavioural matrix: A confirmation and comparison of the sexes. Addictive Behaviours, 12, 103112.
Jackson, C.P., and Matthews, G. (1988). The prediction of habitual alcohol use from alcohol related
expectancies and personality. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 23, 305314.
Jensen, G.F., and Erickson, M.L. (1979). The religious factor and delinquency: another look at the
hellfire hypothesis. In R. Wuthnow (ed.), The religious dimension: New directions in quantitative research (pp. 157178). New York: Academic Press.
Jessor, R., and Jessor, S.L. (1975). Adolescent development and the onset of drinking. Journal of
Studies on Alcohol, 36, 2751.
Jessor, R., and Jessor, S.L. (1977). Problem behaviour and psychological developments: a longitudinal study of youth. New York: Academic Press.
Johnson, R.C., Danko, G.P., Darvill, T.J., Bochner, S., Bowers, J.K., Huang, Y-H., Park, J.Y.,
Pecjak, V., Rahim, A. R. A., and Pennington, D. (1989). Cross cultural assessment of altruism
and its correlates. Personality and Individual Differences, 10, 855868.
Johnston L.D., OMally P.M., and Bachman J.G. (1992), Smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use
among American secondary school students, college students, and young adults, 19751991
Volume 1: Secondary School Students. NIDA DHHS (NIH Publication No. 933480), Washington: Government Printing Office.
Jolly, S., and Orford, J. (1983). Religious observance, attitudes towards drinking, and knowledge
about drinking, amongst university students. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 18, 271278.
Jorm, A.F. (1987). Sex differences in neuroticism: A quantitative synthesis of published research.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 21, 501506.
Jung, C.G. (1938). Psychology and religion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Kay, W.K. (1981). Psychoticism and attitude to religion. Personality and Individual Differences, 2,
249252.
Kay, W.K., and Francis, L.J. (1996). Drift from the churches: Attitude toward Christianity during
childhood and adolescence. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Keehan, J.D. (1970). Neuroticism and extraversion: Chronic alcoholics reports on effects of
drinking. Psychological Reports, 27, 767770.
Khavari, K.A., and Harmon, T.M. (1982). The relationship between the degree of professed religious belief and use of drugs. International Journal of Addiction, 17, 847857.

Leslie J. Francis, Michael Fearn, and Christopher Alan Lewis

287

Koenig, H.G., George, L.K., Meador, K.G., Blazer, D.G., and Ford, S.M. (1994). The relationship
between religion and alcoholism in a sample of community-dwelling adults. Hospital and
Community Psychiatry, 45, 586596.
Lewis, C.A. (1999). Is the relationship between religiosity and personality contaminated by social
desirability as assessed by the lie scale? A methodological reply to Michael W. Eysenck (1998).
Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 2, 105114.
Lewis, C.A. (2000). The religiosity-psychoticism relationship and the two factors of social desirability: A response to Michael W. Eysenck (1999). Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 3, 39
45.
Lewis, C.A. (2001). Cultural stereotype of the effects of religion on mental health. British Journal
of Medical Psychology, 74, 359367.
Lewis, C.A., and Francis, L.J. (2000). Personality and religion among female university students
in France. International Journal of Psychology, 35, 229.
Lewis, C.A., and Joseph, S. (1994). Religiosity: Psychoticism and obsessionality in Northern Irish
university students. Personality and Individual Differences, 17, 685687.
Lewis, C.A., and Maltby, J. (1995). Religiosity and personality among US adults. Personality and
Individual Differences, 18, 293295.
Loewenthal, K.M., MacLeod, A.K., Cook, S., and Goldblatt, V. (2003). Beliefs about alcohol among
UK Jews and Protestants: Do they fit the alcohol depression hypothesis. Social Psychiatry and
Psychological Epidemiology, 38(3):122127.
Long, K.A., and Boik, R.J. (1993). Predicting alcohol use in rural children: A longitudinal study.
Nursing Research, 42(2):7986.
Loo, R. (1980). Characteristics of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire lie scale and of extreme
lie scorers. Psychology: A Quarterly Journal of Human Behaviour, 17, 510.
Lorch, B.R., and Hughes, R.H. (1985). Religion and youth substance use. Journal of Religion and
Health, 24, 197208.
Lubben, J.E., Chi, I., and Kitano, H. H. L. (1988). Exploring Filipino American drinking behaviour. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 49, 2629.
Maltby, J. (1997). Personality correlates of religiosity among adults in the Republic of Ireland.
Psychological Reports, 81, 827831.
Maltby, J., and Lewis, C.A. (1997). The reliability and validity of a short scale of attitude toward
Christianity among USA, English, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland adults. Personality
and Individual Differences, 22, 649654.
Margulies, R.Z., Kessler, R.C., and Kandel, D.B. (1977). A longitudinal study of onset of drinking
among high-school students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 38, 897912.
Martino, E.R., and Truss, C.V. (1973). Drug use and attitude towards social and legal aspects of
marijuana in a large metropolitan university. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 20, 120126.
Mason, W.A., and Windle, M. (2001). Family, religious, school and peer influences on adolescent
alcohol use: a longitudinal study. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 62, 4453.
Mason, W.A., and Windle, M. (2002). A longitudinal study of the effects of religiosity on adolescent
alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Journal of Adolescent Research, 17, 346363.
Massey, A. (1980). The Eysenck Personality Inventory lie scale lack of insight or. . .?. Irish Journal
of Psychology, 4, 172174.
Middleton, R., and Putney, S. (1962). Religion, normative standards and behaviour. Sociometry,
25, 141152.
Mookherjee, H.N. (1986). Comparison of some personality characteristics of male problem drinkers
in rural Tennessee. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, 31, 2328.
Mullen, K., Blaxter, M., and Dyer, S. (1986). Religion and attitudes towards alcohol use in the
Western Isles. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 18, 5172.
Mullen, K., Williams, R., and Hunt, K. (1996). Irish descent, religion and alcohol and tobacco use.
Addiction, 91, 243254.
Nias, D. K. B. (1973). Attitudes to the Common Market: A case study in conservatism. In G.D.
Wilson (ed.), The Psychology of Conservatism (pp. 239255). London: Academic Press.
Nonnemaker, J.M., McNeely, C.A., and Blum, R.W. (2003). Public and private domains of religiosity and adolescent health risk behaviours: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of
Adolescent Health. Social Science and Medicine, 57, 20492054.
Nusbaumer, M.R. (1981). Religious affiliation and abstinence: A fifteen-year change. Journal of
Studies on Alcohol, 42, 127131.

288

Journal of Religion and Health

OConnor, J.C. (1978). The young drinkers: A cross-national study of social and cultural influences.
London: Tavistock Publications.
ODonovan, D. (1969). An historical review of the lie scale: With particular reference to the
Maudsley Personality Inventory. Papers in Psychology, 3, 1319.
Ogden, M.E., Dundas, M., and Bhat, A.V. (1989). Personality differences among alcohol misusers
in community treatment. Personality and Individual Differences, 10, 265267.
Parfrey, P.S. (1976). The effect of religious factors on intoxicant use. Scandinavian Journal of
Social Medicine, 4, 135140.
Patock-Peckham, J.A., Hutchinson, G.T., Cheong, J., and Nagoshi, C.T. (1998). Effect of religion
and religiosity on alcohol use in a college student sample. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 49, 81
88.
Pearson, P.R., and Francis, L.J. (1989). The dual nature of the Eysenckian lie scales: Are religious
adolescents more truthful?. Personality and Individual Differences, 10, 10411048.
Pearson, P.R., Francis, L.J., and Lightbown, T.J. (1986). Impulsivity and religiosity. Personality
and Individual Differences, 7, 8994.
Pearson, P.R., and Sheffield, B.F. (1976). Is personality related to social attitudes? An attempt at
replication. Social Behaviour and Personality, 4, 109111.
Peltzer, K., Malaka, D.W., and Phaswana, N. (2002). Sociodemographic factors religiosity, academic performance, and substance use among first-year university students in South Africa.
Psychological Reports, 91, 105113.
Perkins, H.W. (1985). Religious traditions, parents, and peers as determinants of alcohol and drug
use among college students. Review of Religious Research, 27, 1531.
Perkins, H.W. (1987). Parental religion and alcohol use problems as inter-generational predictors
of problem drinking among college youths. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 26, 340
357.
Perkins, H.W. (1991). Religious commitment, yuppie values, and wellbeing in post-collegiate life.
Review of Religious Research, 32, 244251.
Potvin, R.H., and Lee, C-F. (1980). Multi-stage path models of adolescent alcohol and drug use.
Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 41, 531542.
Preston, J.D. (1969). Religiosity and adolescent drinking behaviour. Sociological Quarterly, 10,
372383.
Rankin, H., Stockwell, T., and Hodgson, R. (1982). Personality and alcohol dependence. Personality and Individual Differences, 3, 145151.
Robbins, M., Francis, L.J., and Gibbs, D. (1995). Personality and religion: A study among 8
11 year olds. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 16(1):16.
Robinson, T.N. (1990). Eysenck personality measures and religious orientation. Personality and
Individual Differences, 11, 915921.
Rocklin, T., and Revelle, W. (1981). The measurement of extraversion: A comparison of the Eysenck Personality Inventory and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. British Journal of
Social Psychology, 20, 279284.
Roman, R.E., and Lester, D. (1999). Religiosity and mental health. Psychological Reports, 85, 1088.
Rosenberg, C.M. (1969). Young alcoholics. British Journal of Psychiatry, 115, 181188.
Sadava, S.W. (1985). Problem behaviour theory and consumption and consequences of alcohol use.
Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 46, 392397.
Schlegel, R.P., and Sanborn, M.D. (1979). Religious affiliation and adolescent drinking. Journal of
Studies on Alcohol, 40, 693703.
Shaw, D.M., MacSweeney, D.A., Johnson, A.L., and Merry, J. (1975). Personality characteristics of
alcoholic and depressed patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 5659.
Shore, E.R., Rivers, P.C., and Berman, J.J. (1983). Resistance by college students to peer pressure
to drink. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 44, 352361.
Shuter-Dyson, R. (2000). Profiling music students: Personality and religiosity. Psychology of
Music, 28, 190196.
Siegman, A.W. (1963). A cross-cultural investigation of the relationship between introversion,
social attitudes and anti-social behaviour. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2,
196208.
Skolnick, J.H. (1958). Religious affiliation and drinking behaviour. Journal of Studies on Alcohol,
19, 452470.
SPSS Inc (1988). SPSSX Users Guide. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Leslie J. Francis, Michael Fearn, and Christopher Alan Lewis

289

Straus, R., and Bacon, S.D. (1953). Drinking in college. New Heaven: Yale University Press.
Sutherland, I., and Shepherd, J.P. (2001). Social dimensions of adolescent substance use. Addiction, 96, 445458.
Turner, C.J., and Willis, R.J. (1979). Relationship between self-reported religiosity and drug use
by college students. Journal of Drug Education, 9, 6778.
Vener, A.M., Zaenglein, M.M., and Stewart, C. (1977). Traditional religious orthodoxy, respect for
authority and non-conformity in adolescence. Adolescence, 12, 4356.
Vine, I. (1978). Facts and values in the psychology of religion. Bulletin British Psychological
Society, 31, 414417.
Watson, P.J., Morris, R.J., Foster, J.E., and Hood, R.W. (1986). Religiosity and social desirability.
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 25, 215232.
Wechsler, H., Demone, H.W., Thum, D., and Kasey, E.H. (1970). Religious-ethnic differences in
alcohol consumption. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 11, 2129.
Wechsler, H., and McFadden, M. (1979). Drinking among college students in New England.
Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 40, 969996.
Wechsler, H., and Thum, D. (1973). Teenage drinking, drug use, and social correlates. Journal of
Studies on Alcohol, 34, 12201227.
Welch, M.R., Tittle, C.R., and Petee, T. (1991). Religion and deviance among adult Catholics: A test of
the moral communities hypothesis. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 30, 159172.
Wilcox, C., and Francis, L.J. (1997). Personality and religion among A level religious studies
students. International Journal of Childrens Spirituality, 1(2):4856.
Wiggins, J.A., and Wiggins, B.B. (1987). Drinking at a Southern University: Its description and
correlates. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48, 319324.
Wilson, G.D., and Brazendale, A.H. (1973). Social attitude correlates of Eysencks personality
dimensions. Social Behaviour and Personality, 1, 115118.
Youtika, A., Joseph, S., and Diduca, D. (1999). Personality and religiosity in a Greek Christian
Orthodox sample. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 2, 7174.
Zucker, R.A., and Harford, T.C. (1983). National study of the demography of adolescent drinking
practices in 1980. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 44, 974985.

You might also like